New Cold End Sizing Process for Ensuring Dimensional Precision on Both

Ends of Line Pipes

Kouichi Kuroda *, Tsutomu Arita** , Takahiro Takano***,
Hajime Osako*** , Tatsuya Okui * and Masayoshi Akiyama†
*
R & D Laboratories
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation
1-8 Fuso-cho, Amagasaki-shi, Hyogo, 660-0891, Japan
e-mail: kuroda.d88.kohichi@jp.nssmc.com

**
European Office
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation
Am Seestern 8, 40547 Düsseldorf, Germany

***
Wakayama Works
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation
1850 Minato Wakayama, Wakayama 640-8555 Japan
†
Department of Mechanical and System Engineering
Kyoto Institute of Technology
Gosho-kaido-cho, Matsugasaki, Kyoto, 606-8585, Japan

ABSTRACT

It is a recent trend that narrow range of tolerance in the inside diameter on both ends of a line pipe is
specified by customers. High dimensional precision helps smooth and speedy welding field operation
for connecting both ends of adjacent pipes. Mismatch in the inside diameter between adjacent pipes
leads to lack of stiffness and strength of the welded portion, and it is highly recommended to ensure
high dimensional precision of parent pipes. Because as-hot-rolled line pipes manufactured by the
Mannesmann process have eccentricity and the inside surface of pipe is not always round, cold end-
sizing operation is sometimes necessary when the dimensional precision of as-hot-rolled line pipes
does not fall within the range of specified range of tolerance.
Cold-expansion process has been developed for ensuring dimensional precision of inside geometry
on the end portions of line pipe. For expanding the inside diameter of line pipe, a plug insertion
method by cold press in the axial direction from the end side was finally adopted. As the nature of
end sizing operation, only very small amount of cold plastic strain is applicable by cold expansion,
and in order to realize the high dimensional precision of end portion a special geometry of the plug
had to be designed. If a single-taper plug is adopted the expanded portion tends to overshoot and the
inside diameter of expanded portion is larger than the plug diameter. The new plug design allows
smooth contact of the inside surface expanded by the inlet portion of the plug on the bearing portion
of the plug and no overshooting phenomenon occurs. One of the simplest designs of this type of plug
for practical use is a double-taper plug, and finite element method was carried out in order to
determine the practical range of the plug geometry referring to the deep insight on the mechanism of
expansion process.